Railway track structure



May 10,v 1955 w; DALToN y 2,708,072

RAILWAY TRACK STRUCTURE Filed Nov. 2s. 195;v 2 sheets-sheet 2 W5 4o WILLIAM D/MJON.v

a INVENTOR vl;

ATTORNEY United States Patent RAILWAY TRACK STRUCTURE William Dalton, Schenectady, N. Y.

Application November 23, 1953, Serial No. 393,534

' 4 Claims. '(Cl. 23S- 106) This invention relates to railway track structures.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a new and improved track structure comprising rails and metallic ties assembled into a `unit having novel means of anchorage in the track ballast. Another object is to provide such a structure in which the rails and metallic ties are so constructed, arranged, and assembled as to form a girder-like unit having angle bar means associated with the ends of the ties to engage the track ballast in a manner to prevent end movement of the ties. Still another object is to provide such a structure in which the ballast-engaging means is removably secured to the tie ends by a novel connection. Another object is to provide such a structure including a plurality of metallic ties each of which is divided into two spaced sections, one for each rail, such ties being so assembled and connected to each other and having ballast-engaging means associated with each of the spaced sections in such a manner ythat spread of the rails is prevented and end-wise movement of the sections in the track `ballast is prevented. Still another object is to provide such a structure having spaced sections provided with angle bars or irons at their inner and outer ends, the inner angle irons being connected by an insulated gage rod assembly to maintain the gage of the rails. Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the lfollowing description, the accompanying drawings,'and the appended claims.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a foreshortened top plan view of the structure of the invention arranged to support a pair of rails, only the end ties of the structure being shown; Fig. 2 is a cross section of the structure taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a top plan view of an alternate construction of the invention in which the ties are divided into sections spaced endwise from one another; Fig. 5 is an end view of the construction shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an elevation in section taken along the line 6 6 in Fig. 4; Fig. 7 is a View, on a larger scale, of the tie bar assembly; and, Fig. 8 shows a tie end construction along the lines 8 8 of Fig. 4.

Referring now to Fig. l of the drawings, the structural unit of the invention is illustrated as comprising a pair of parallel rails 10, a plurality of ties generally indicated as 11 supporting the rails, tie plates 12 and rail clamps 13 to secure the rails to the ties, and angle bars or irons 14 arranged at the opposite ends of the ties and having vertical anges 15 to provide anchorage for the unit in the track ballast. The ties are metallic and may be fabricated from discarded steel rails. Such rails are cut to desired lengths and the lengths are assembled in pairs. Rail clamps are preferably of the type shown in my copending application Serial No. 352,151. In Fig. 1 only two ties are shown, these being the end ties of the group of the invented structure. Intermediate ties also form part of the group and will vary in number as desired. Preferably the group, as assembled into a unit, will form substantially a square to facilitate delivery to the point of installation.

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The cross sectional area of the ends of such cut lengths of rail is small as compared to the end area of a wood tie, which is conventionally 7l by 9". End movement or shifting of such ties lengthwise would therefore result unless some preventive means were provided. Accordingly, angle bars or irons are secured to the tie ends. The angle bars each include a horizontal ange 16 extending inwardly under the ties and a vertical flange 15 extending upwardly across the end faces of the ties to present a continuous surface to the track ballast.

The opposite longitudinal ends of the angle bars14 are each provided with two pairs of inwardly extending horizontal pins or bosses 17 which may be welded thereto'. The pins of each pair (see Fig. 3) are spaced from each other and the pairs themselves are spaced from each other suciently to enclose the vertical webs 18 of the two rail lengths which make up the two end ties of the group of ties forming the invented construction. These pins serve to locate the elements in reference to each other and are positioned far enough up on the vertical flange 15 to permit the insertion of the tie base 19 between them and the horizontal flange 16 of the bar. When the rails and ties are moved downwardly by the heavy pressure caused by the weight of a passing train, the angle bars are of course moved down with them. The arrangement of the horizontal pins is such that as the rail springs back upwardly after the train has passed, the `tie base engages the pins and lifts the angle bar back to its original position.

The horizontal llange 38 of each angle bar (see Fig. 4) is also formed with vertical studs 21 which fit into corresponding holes 22 drilled upwardly into the base 19 of each of the ties except the end ties. Such studs furnish a connection between the angle bar and ties to prevent their separation laterally whenever the unit may be subjected to lateral forces by a passing train.

Referring now to Fig. 4, an alternate construction of the invention is illustrated. In this embodiment, the invention comprises a plurality of ties each of which consists of two sections generally indicated at 31 and 32 spaced from each other endwise. Each section includes twin metallic bars 33 disposed adjacent one another in parallel relation. Such bars may be fabricated of portions of discarded steel rails cut to desired length. Rails 10a and 10b are secured to the ties by tie plates 12a and rail clamps 13a.

The inner ends of the group of sections disposed under rail 10a are connected by an angle bar 34. Likewise, the inner ends of the group of sections disposed under rail 10b are connected by an angle bar 35. The outer ends of each of said groups are also connected by angle bars 36 and 37. All of the angle bars have inwardly directed horizontal flanges 38 which extend under the ties and they are also provided with vertical anges 39 which extend upwardly across the faces of the tie ends. These vertical flanges are adapted to engage the track ballast to provide suitable anchorage for the sections. The opposite longitudinal ends of each of the angle bars 34, 35, 36, and 37 are provided with two pairs of inwardly extending horizontal pins 49 which serve the same purpose as the corresponding pins in the first embodiment shown in Fig. 1 and heretofore described. Similarly, studs 41 are provided along the horizontal flanges 38 of the angle bars 34 and 35 for engagement with holes in the bases of the ties other than the end ties.

Connecting the inner angle irons 34 and 35 to prevent their spreading from each other and hence to maintain the rails to proper gage is an insulated gage bar assembly, generally indicated at 42 in Figs. 4 and 6. In the enlarged elevational view of the tie bar assembly shown in Fig. 7, it is seen that the vertical anges 43 of each of the inner angle bars 34 and 35 are formed with holes 4-4. The gage bar, which is preferably of fibre glass ma terial, has ball heads 45 at its opposite ends, said heads having a diameter which will permit their insertion through holes 44 when the track structure is assembled. An adapter 46 having a central aperture 47 is arranged between each head 45 and the adjacent vertical ange 43, the adapter being a split member to permit assembly. The outer ends of the adapters are formed with sockets 48 to receive the bar heads and the inner ends are formed with cylindrical anges 49 for positioning in holes 44. The gage bar assembly functions to hold the rails to gage but the elements are assembled in relatively loose relation to provide some llexibility in the track unit, so that it may absorb the heavy duty stresses and strains to which it may be subjected.

While there have been hereinbefore described approved embodiments of this invention, it will be understood that many and various changes and modifications in form, arrangement of parts and details of construction thereof may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims are con templated as a part of this invention.

What I claim is:

1. A track structure comprising a plurality of metallic ties consisting of parallel lengths of steel each of which has a base, a web, and a head; angle bars engaging the outer ends of the ties; vertical and horizontal flanges on the angle bars, the vertical flanges having inwardly extending pins thereon and the horizontal flanges having spaced studs thereon, said vertical ilanges being adapted to engage track ballast to anchor the structure therein; means on the ties to receive said pins to maintain the ties and bars in position in relation to each other; and means on the ties to receive said studs to establish a removable connection between the ties and bars.

2. A track structure comprising a group of metallic tics each of which has a base, a web, and a bead, said group consisting of end ties and intermediate ties; angle bars disposed at the opposite ends of the ties, said bars having horizontal flanges extending inwardly under the ties and vertical flanges extending upwardly across the end faces of the ties to form track ballast-engaging means; pairs of spaced pins on the vertical llanges extending inwardly to receive the webs of the end-ties; studs on the horizontal flanges of the angle bars; and hole means in the bases of the intermediate ties to receive the studs to Cil establish a removable connection between the group of ties and the angle bars.

3. A railway track structure comprising a group of metallic ties including end ties and intermediate ties, each tie including two sections spaced endwise, angle bars arranged at the outer ends of the ties and having flanges extending inwardly under the ties and tlanges extending upwardly across the outer end faces of the ties, said vertical anges being adapted to engage track ballast, angle bars arranged at the inner ends of the ties and having llanges extending inwardly under the ties and flanges extending upwardly across the inner end faces of the ties, said vertical anges being adapted to engage track ballast, pins extending inwardly from the vertical anges of the outer angle bars and outwardly from the vertical anges of the inner angle bars to engage the ties to locate the latter in reference to the bars, studs extending upwardly from the horizontal flanges of the angle bars, hole means in the intermediate ties to receive said studs to maintain the angle bars in removable engagement with the ties, and tie bars connecting the vertical flanges of the inner angle bars to maintain the latter in spaced relation.

4, A track structure comprising a plurality of metallic ties consisting of parallel lengths of steel each of which has a base, a web, and a head; angle bars engaging the outer ends of the ties and disposed normally to the ties; vertical and horizontal tlangesl on the angle bars, the vertical llanges being adapted to engage track ballast to anchor the structure therein; spaced studs on the horizontal ilanges; hole means in the ties to receive said studs to establish a removable connection between the ties and bars; and inwardly extending pins in the vertical flanges disposed adjacent the top surfaces of the tie bases, said pins being adapted to lift the angle bars back to normal position when the rail and ties return to normal position after a vehicle has passed over them.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 370,837 Williams Oct. 4, 1887 1,240,658 Bond Sept. 18, 1917 1,260,736 Waples Mar. 26, 1918 1,277,930 Hess Sept. 3, 1918 1,657,240 Dalton Jan. 24, 1928 1,666,688 Dalton Apr. 17, 1928 

